Being Green

Being Green isn’t just something we add to our agenda, it’s part of the fabric of working for BE and in our centres.

We’re unique in the fact that we have our own in-house project team, The Green Group. Established in 2009, the Green Group are challenged with making every one of our processes greener, more energy efficient and better for the environment. The group monitors our green and energy KPIs and report on a monthly basis on recycling performance, waste and energy consumption at every business centre and at our head office.

Why do we go the extra mile to be green?

Quite simply because it means you can rest assured that by being in a BE Offices business centre you are working in a eco-friendly environment with green office space.

The Green Group was formed to measure and challenge every process in our business that has an environmental impact. With direct responsibility and authority for our Green, CSR and Environmental issues they have a integral say in our decision making process for all new ventures.

BE Offices’ Green Group

The Green Group have established many schemes unique to our sector such as the bin-less office scheme we operate at all of our centres, where we have removed the majority of waste bins and replaced them with recycling units so waste is segregated at source. This has made a dramatic impact on our recycling efficiency.

The Green Group published policy is to sought to deliver the following:

1. Sustained and improving recycling at every UK location 2. To move the group towards a zero landfill target 3. To develop practices to support Business Environment clients to recycle more 4. Introduce initiatives that made recycling easier 5. Source materials from sustainable sources 6. Reduce the use of chemicals for cleaning 7. Save energy use 8. Introduce ways charities to benefit from cleaner working practices

The Green Group team have delivered a number of exciting policy changes and initiatives:

1. The Binless Office:Introduction of the Binless Office concept to encourage clients, BE Offices and partners to use recycling points in offices instead of bins under desks. The result has seen a 25% increase in recycling volumes with the UK average at 52%2. Zero landfill Policy: zero landfill was first achieved through their waste partners SWR in 2012 with non-recycled waste now producing electricity that’s sold back to the national grid3. Motion Sensor Lighting: Introduced motion sensor lighting at UK centres to reduce electricity use when office space is empty4. Carbon Savings:Reduced carbon production significantly with a reduction that would allow someone to watch TV for 524 years or drive from London to Edinburgh 1,412 times5. Chemical Use:In partnership with our cleaning company Aurora Pro Clean we have successfully reduced the number of cleaning agents we use to just 5 and each one are chemical free.

Recycling and Green Schemes

We go above and beyond business basics to ensure we are leading our industry…

Recycling

It is estimated that our bin-less offices recycling initiative reduces waste by 86%.

BE Offices recycled 145 tonnes of business waste over the last year, enough to cover a football pitch and a half from end to end or the equivalent of a huge 76,000 large plastic bottles.

Bike Racks and Cycle To Work Schemes

Reducing your carbon foot-print is goal that every business and individual must look at to be considered green. This is why we have installed bike racks at most of our business centres to allow our clients to use a cycle to get to work. These have been incredibly popular and as always we will continue to provide extras to our clients at no extra cost as part of our ‘all-inclusive’ policy.

We also have a Cycle To Work scheme for BE staff, which allows individuals an easy and cost-effective method of purchasing a bicycle.

Carbon Neutral Hosting Servers

We are proud to have the UK’s first carbon neutral hosting servers for our online platforms. Our hosted servers are powered by hydro-electricity, a green source of energy and we attempt to limit the carbon footprint of all energy utilised.

Reclaim IT

We are work in partnership with Reclaim IT to recycle old ink and toner cartridges and mobile phones. We have committed to donating 100% of the value raised to our two chosen charities, Dogs Trust and Rays of Sunshine.

We have set up RECLAIM IT recycle points in our centres to encourage clients to recycle 100% of their waste.

You can find out more at the RECLAIM IT website and also see how the money raised helps abandoned dogs and children with terminal illnesses.

Useful Carbon Reducing facts!

1. BE Offices recycle enough waste each year to cover a football pitch 2. Save enough carbon each year equivilant to nearly 6,000 car journeys from London to Edinburgh and back 3. Or keep a kettle boiling for over 512 months 4. Or watch TV for over 2,000 years 5. Or lighting a single light bulb for 3,144 years